Music is Worship

Last night we went to the Western Wall to welcome in the Sabbath with the Jews. So the Western Wall is part of the original retaining wall of the Temple Mount which was added during King Herod's temple renovations. It is a very holy place for the Jews. During the week there are people there worshiping, but on Friday there are a lot of people because the Sabbath begins Friday night at Sunday. I was pretty excited for a number of reasons. One reason being that this is the only time all semester that we are allowed to be in the Old City past dark. Another reason was I got to wear the kipa (small Jewish head covering for men) that I bought last week. The best way for me to describe what it was like is to call it a Joyful Celebration. Most of the people had prayer books and were gathered together in small groups singing their prayers in unison. There were a lot of different prayers being sung at the same time. People were even dancing. The Jews celebrate the Sabbath and are excited to welcome it in and observe it. Sometimes I feel that people mourn the Sabbath because they look at the things that they can't do. The scene at the western wall was such a contrast to that view.

I walked away from the Western Wall sort of wishing that in the LDS faith we had memorized prayers that we sung just because I felt that it seemed like such a meaningful way to worship. This morning during choir practice the simple revelation came to me that the hymns we sing can be prayers to God if we make them. Most of the time when I sing in church all that I am doing is singing - simply saying words and changing the tone of my voice. It doesn't have to be like that. The hymns can be prayers sung out loud to God. Music can be Worship. That inspiration is one of the most meaningful lessons I have learned so far this semester. I'm glad I discovered that today because I was part of a quartet that sang Redeemer of Israel for a special musical number for sacrament meeting today. The song went really well.

After church today, all the students of the center went to the Garden Tomb. That was a very special experience. I liked the explanation that the sight staff gave to us. They told that the nearby hill might be Golgotha and the tomb might be the actually tomb where Christ was buried. That is not important though. We don't worship places. We worship God. The Garden Tomb is an excellent place to ponder the death and resurrection of Christ because it is so peaceful. Most of the city is really busy and loud like most cities, but the Garden Tomb is a nice refuge from the world. After being shown around the garden, we all sat together a sang a number of hymns. That was powerful. The last song we sang was "I Believe in Christ." It was such a wonderful place to bear testimony of and worship Christ through song.